Alabama

Bob Higgins stepping down at Baldwin County EDA

Bob Higgins is retiring from his position as vice president of the Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance. (Bill Starling/Press-Register)

ROBERTSDALE, Alabama -- After 10 years, Bob Higgins will leave the Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance on Wednesday, but that doesn’t mean things will slow down for Higgins or the alliance, he said.

Higgins will retire as senior vice president of the EDA. He will continue his work as chairman of the Coastal Resiliency Commission, chairman of the Business Advisory Council for the Alabama Department of Education and other duties.

He said the change will allow him more time to work on efforts to train workers and help businesses prepare for the future while the EDA concentrates on its task of bringing in new industry. He said that with Robert Ingram retiring as EDA president and a new director, Lee Lawson, taking over, this was a good time for a change.

"The alliance really, really needs to focus on industrial recruiting, for the megasite, for Airbus and other things," Higgins said. "What this will allow them to do is get me off the payroll and staff up under Lee Lawson so they can focus on that. In the course of that, I’m going to stay engaged in most of the things that I was engaged with here with the alliance, especially with workforce development."

Higgins joined the EDA in 2002 to lead development of the Baldwin Business Incubator. In one of his most recent efforts, he has worked to bring an aviation training center to the Fairhope airport that will help local high school students prepare for the growth in aircraft production jobs expected as Airbus opens its assembly facility.

In the years between, he was active in efforts to help local companies deal with the economic effects of the 2010 oil spill, setting up the "War Room" network of businesses and officials that led to the development of the Coastal Resiliency Coalition and the Business Support Center.

He said he plans to remain active with both programs. While the economy is recovering from the effects of the spill, the need for programs such as the support center will continue.

"What we discovered in the oil spill is that there were a lot of companies that were on the edge anyway, probably from a couple of years of economic downturn leading up to the oil spill," he said. "What we learned was a lot of them didn’t know what they didn’t know. They didn’t quite know how to make best use of the accounting information or marketing or how to outsource some stuff that really wasn’t within their own areas of expertise so they could focus more on what they do really well. That’s what we decided — that if the Business Support Center can reach out to businesses continuously, and help them be aware of better ways to run and operate their businesses so they can be more profitable, then they’re far more resilient whatever disaster comes by next time."

Joe Bullock, alliance chairman, said Higgins is always looking for ways to "fix the system" by developing new programs, such as the Southwest Alabama Workforce Development Council.

Ingram also praised Higgins’ work with the alliance and other programs.

"Bob has been the heart and soul of our community development efforts at the alliance," Ingram said in a statement. "His work has resulted in Baldwin County being a much better place for people to live and work. I have been blessed to have had Bob as a trusted partner in economic development and as a friend."

Higgins said Wednesday that he was also looking forward to having more opportunities for personal activities, such as spending time with his four grandchildren who live in the area.

"I admit that I will be able to go to more of their events," he said. 